Powell Halts Rate Hikes, Trump Might Not Be Pleased(Continued from Prior Part)Economy After its two-day meeting, the Federal Reserve signaled no more rate hikes in 2019. In December, the Fed projected two rate hikes in 2019. The Fed has also toned

Analysts are urging investors to stay away from shares of Chinese tech firm Meituan Dianping. In fact, one firm sees more than 30 percent downside for Meituan Dianping's stock from its current levels. Since rising more than 5 percent on the day of its initial public offering in September 2018, Meituan Dianping's stock has consistently traded at levels below that debut day's closing price.

Tmall Global today unveiled two key initiatives that further Alibaba’s plans to bring $200 billion worth of international goods into China over the next five years and help businesses of all sizes enter the China market. The initiatives – the Centralized Import Procurement (CIP) and Tmall Overseas Fulfillment (TOF) – are import solutions offered by Tmall Global to help international brands accelerate their entry into China and capitalize on hot demand for high-quality products. As the biggest cross-border platform in China, Tmall Global not only helps brand open up flagship stores on the platform, but also offers direct import services that can help bring international goods, from companies of all sizes sell into the Chinese market, benefiting Chinese consumers with an expanded choice of imported products.

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing and data intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, unveiled at its Beijing Summit the new strategy to develop the company into a more technologically inclusive platform. Jeff Zhang, President of Alibaba Cloud and Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba Group, for the first time elaborated publicly on the strategic upgrade of the business – evolving to serve as a key component of the Alibaba Business Operating System, and empowering customers and ecosystem partners to win in the digital era. Cloud computing is becoming the main business focus of Alibaba Group and over the past decade Alibaba Cloud has been the technology and public cloud platform underpinning the entire Alibaba economy from e-commerce and payment, to logistics and supply chain management.

Heading into its Q3 fiscal 2019 earnings report, which is due out after the closing bell Thursday, Nike is a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy). So, let's see what to expect from the company's third quarter financial results, including North American and Chinese sales.

More Action: US-China Trade Talks Resume Next Week(Continued from Prior Part)US-China talks In the previous part, we discussed that the US (QQQ) and China plan to resume the trade talks next week. So far, China’s economic data have disappointed

Why Jeffrey Gundlach Thinks We're Still in a Bear Market(Continued from Prior Part)The next move for the US dollar could be downDuring his “Highway to Hell” webcast, Jeffrey Gundlach put forth several arguments for a bearish long-term outlook

(Reuters) - Foxconn Ventures Holdco has sold $398.4 million (£302 million) worth of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's shares, in a block trade in the open market managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc, people familiar ...

Insurance data company Ebix (NASDAQ:EBIX) has been evolving and increasingly, Ebix stock has started a slow march up. It's a pleasant surprise as I first ran into this company almost a decade ago, when I was still at ZDNet.At the time they were buying a health care information company called A.D.A.M., for $66 million. I recently found my story on the Ebix Web site.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSince then, Ebix has ridden a lot of ups and downs. The stock traded as low as $9.26 per share in 2012. But it found its footing and rose to as much as $83 per share last year. It opens for trade March 12 at about $51.30 per share.Ebix is worth looking at again because it's no longer the company it was. It's a broader company, with interests in insurance as well as health care. It is also much more focused on India, which is where CEO Robin Raina hails from.That's the real story. * Top 7 Service Sector Stocks That Will Pay You to Own Them Payment Innovation and Ebix StockTransaction processing has long been an American lake, dominated by Visa (NYSE:V), MasterCard (NYSE:MA), and their networks of processing partners, many of which have operations in Atlanta, where Ebix is based in the suburban town of John's Creek.But India's government recently pushed through a powerful transaction processing innovation, a Unified Payments Interface that has made India the innovation center of the global payments industry.Not only did India create a low-cost payment infrastructure, it also pushed people to use it, banning high-denomination bills to fight tax evasion and pushing commerce into the new system.The rise of low-cost digital payments has boosted Alibaba Group Holding (NASDAQ:BABA), Tencent Holding (OTCMKTS:TCEHY) and even American companies like Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), all of which have taken advantage of the new infrastructure, at the expense of banks and traditional processors.This is what Ebix is tapping into. India Moves and Ebix StockEbix' market cap is barely $1.5 billion, but U.S. dollars go a long way in India.The company has made 11 deals in India in just 14 months, all in various areas of ecommerce infrastructure. The purchases cost about $500 million. Raina wants to invest another $500 million this year, and take what had been the remittance system ItzCash, now renamed EbixCash, public.Raina's latest deal, announced March 11, is a proposal to buy Yatra Online (NASDAQ:YTRA), the ticketing firm behind Yatra.com, an Indian rival to Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) or Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG).The company had already bought 80% of Zillious, another online travel booker. The plan is to make Yatra part of EbixCash, then take the whole thing public.On March 1, Ebix announced its revenue for 2018 was up 37% to $497.8 million and a few days later it announced plans to be at a run rate of $750 million by the end of this year. The country's footprint in India is large enough for it to sponsor one of the country's leading business conferences and host the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The Bottom Line on Ebix StockIndia is one of the world's fastest growing economies, and electronic transactions, thanks to government help, are one of the fastest-growing parts of that economy.Ebix has transformed itself, in barely a year, from a small American company focused on health payments into a real competitor inside this enormous opportunity.It has taken real risks to do this, with long-term debt of $274 million and a revolving line of credit worth another $424 million. Its operating cash flow, $89.8 million last year, can hardly keep up.Ebix is all-in on India and has made itself a speculative stock in the process. But speculating on Ebix stock is worthwhile, and if you want that kind of international exposure, here it is.Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of a new mystery thriller, The Reluctant Detective Finds Her Family, available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this article. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Financial Stocks to Invest In Today * 7 Single-Digit P/E Stocks With Massive Upside * 5 Chip Stocks on the Rise Compare Brokers The post EBIX Stock Is Risky at Best but Still Worth a Good Hard Look appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Amazon Is Capitalizing on These Key Advantages(Continued from Prior Part)Amazon steadily transforming into a logistics powerhouse There is a multitrillion-dollar industry that Amazon (AMZN) is quietly zeroing in on: transportation and logistics. In

Shares of Tencent Holdings (OTCMKTS:TCEHY) had a bumpy ride over the past year, as the video game industry worked through some tough headlines. TCEHY stock is still down more than 20% as worries over the gaming industry and the Chinese-U.S. trade war tamps the shares.However, Tencent stock has been on the rebound over the past few months. What's driving it? For one thing, while the trade war persists, the rhetoric is softening. This is sending TCEHY, Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), iQiyi (NASDAQ:IQ)- the Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) of China -- and a number of other Chinese equities higher.As well, while the gaming industry has been under pressure, one of the few bright spots has been Fortnite. The game is owned by Epic Games, which has is 40%-owned by TCEHY. Not only has this helped buffer the blow that other gaming stocks have suffered, but China is starting to come around on gaming as well. The country -- which sparked a big decline in video game stocks during the fourth quarter -- began banning and holding off on new video game approvals. It's since relaxed a bit, although it's far from an open market.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsThese catalysts have allowed Tencent stock to rally from a $32 low in November to $47 now. After such a hearty move higher, investors are asking themselves if there's still room left to rally. Valuing Tencent StockAlibaba is a well-known Chinese conglomerate, commanding a market cap of more than $472 billion. However, many do not realize that Tencent stock sports a valuation just a bit south of that, at $442 billion. * Top 7 Service Sector Stocks That Will Pay You to Own Them Those who are somewhat familiar with TCEHY know the company has video game exposure. But they often don't realize just how big of a company it is. Tencent has a huge social media unit, video subscriptions, online advertising and "other," which includes units like cloud services and payment-related services.As with any large company like this, some of its businesses are underwhelming, while other are showcasing strong growth. For instance, last quarter, Tencent's value-added services (VAS) business grew just 5%, as online game revenue fell 4%. However, social networks revenue jumped 29%, online advertising revenue climbed 47% and cloud revenue more than doubled.Some investors may have an issue with Tencent stock and its valuation. Making matters worse, discovering good analysis on TCEHY stock isn't exactly easy. Despite the company's large size, it has very few analysts covering the name. For instance, if you head over to Yahoo! Finance, there are only estimates from one analyst. They predict earnings of $1.26 per share, valuing the stock at about 36.5 times earnings. * 15 Stocks That May Be Hurt by This Year's Big IPOs That's not exactly cheap, even if their prediction calls for roughly 20% earnings growth next year. That said, revenue growth should be strong. The company generated $35.4 billion in sales last year and is expected to grow revenue 30% this year. With just one quarter left in fiscal 2018, it's not too early to look ahead to fiscal 2019, where expectations call for 26.4% revenue growth. With this growth, TCEHY stock has a more palatable valuation. Trading TCEHY Stock Click to EnlargeTo be sure, TCEHY stock is not the most popular name in the investment world and, as a result, volume is far from robust. You'll notice the "spotty" chart above reflects this situation in Tencent stock. But that does not mean it is without pattern.A look at the Tencent stock chart shows a very notable uptrend, as the shares knock on overhead resistance. $46 is one level of note, while $48 is the other. I would love to see the stock push higher, particularly above $46. If it can get above this level, it will remain on its path to $54, about 15% above current levels.Keep in mind, a pullback to uptrend support could shave a few dollars off Tencent stock. But so long as it holds, it should continue to do well. At this rate, investors can also use the 50-day moving average at the barometer for TCEHY's uptrend. Above, and the stock is still okay. Below and we'll have to re-evaluate.Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long IQ. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Financial Stocks to Invest In Today * 7 Single-Digit P/E Stocks With Massive Upside * 5 Chip Stocks on the Rise Compare Brokers The post Investors Wonder If Tencent Stock Is Worth Buying for a Potential Breakout? appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Marriott International isn’t content to “stand still.” That was the overarching theme of Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson’s opening presentation on Monday at the company’s biannual investor day in New York. Sorenson, along with a number of Marriott executives were in town to give investors an update on the company’s three-year growth plan, which […] The post What Marriott’s CEO Had to Say About Airbnb, Amazon and Google appeared first on Skift.

Hedge fund managers like Andreas Halvorsen, Chase Coleman, or Carl Icahn became billionaires through reaping large profits for their investors, which is why piggybacking their stock picks may provide us with significant returns as well. Many hedge funds, like Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, are pretty secretive, but we can still get some insights by analyzing […]

Amazon Is Capitalizing on These Key Advantages(Continued from Prior Part)Lyft commits to spending $300 million on Amazon cloud In the past few years, initial public offerings of tech companies brought a lot of good news for Google (GOOGL). For

Amazon Is Capitalizing on These Key Advantages(Continued from Prior Part)Mobile payment service for Mexico Amazon (AMZN) has teamed up with Mexico’s central bank to launch a new mobile payment service in the country, according to a report from

Cryptocurrency firm Alibabacoin has settled with the online retail titan Alibaba over the use of the name. Alibabacoin will stop using trademarks including the term ‘Alibaba’ after a lawsuit brought by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. The ABBC Foundation, the company behind the newly-named ABBC Coin, announced the settlement in a statement, reports Reuters. In October, Alibaba won a trademark injunction against Alibabacoin, which is based in Belarus and Dubai. The Alibaba Foundation, ABBC’s previous name, made claims in its white paper that it will use artificial intelligence for facial recognition purposes, which would be used for electronic payments and financial transactions. Legal row Earlier this month, Coin Rivet reported the Alibaba Group is considering blockchain implementation for cross-border supply chains. The post Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba settles with Alibabacoin appeared first on Coin Rivet.

Amazon Is Capitalizing on These Key Advantages(Continued from Prior Part)Amazon cut royalties for video partners From dropping some suppliers as Bloomberg reported to discontinuing its pop-up kiosks program, Amazon (AMZN) has been shaking up many

A Look at Amazon's Latest Moves to Refresh Its Strategy(Continued from Prior Part)Amazon drops suppliers amid anti-counterfeit push Last month, Amazon (AMZN) launched a new anti-counterfeit program called Project Zero. Under this program, Amazon